THE SEA-BREAM. 171 



of England, &c., and is frequently taken whilst fishing for 

 Whiting. 



The young of this fish perfectly swarm, both off the open 

 shore and in the deep harbours of Devonshire and Cornwall, 

 from July until the end of October ; they are there called Chad. 

 The large fish reach the size of four or five pounds, and struggle 

 lustily when they feel the hook, which should be baited with 

 Rag or Lug- Worms, a living or a piece of dead Sand- Eel, a 

 piece of Mackerel, Pilchard, Herring, or a Mussel ; they will 

 also take freely the soft part of a Limpet, or when well on the 

 feed a garden Snail, of course minus its shell, and even the 

 hard part of the Limpet. To bait with Lugs run the hook 

 down from the head about an inch and pass it through three 

 times. Rag- Worms for Bream should be large and the hook 

 passed four times through them. Of Mackerel use a piece an 

 inch long and half an inch wide. Mussels as for Whiting, if 

 large use half only. No. n hook (fig. 63, p. 211); for Chad 

 or Small Bream, No. 14, when harbour-fishing or close to 

 shore. 



The soft part of a Limpet is such an excellent bait for 

 Bream, and is in general so easily procured, that I feel it quite 

 worthy of a special description as regards its use. Procure 

 about fifty. or more of the largest Limpets, and prepare them 

 for bait in the following manner the soft part of the Limpet is 

 the more attractive, but as this is too soft to hold well on the 

 hook alone, it is necessary a small portion of the hard part 

 should be included in the bait. Take the Limpet out of the 

 shell with a round-topped knife, and passing the knife between 

 the hard and soft parts, cut off with the soft that portion of the 

 hard also in which the horns are situated, about the size of a 

 silver threepenny piece. Passing the hook through the small 

 hard piece first and then through the soft, if the fish knocks off 

 the soft at the first nibble, it is often caught with the hard. 

 This bait is much the better for being prepared and placed in 

 the sun an hour previous to use. The Sea-Bream feeds at all 

 depths, and although often caught on ground-lines, may be 

 taken in far greater quantities with the lighter kinds of drift- 

 lines used for Pollack, namely the horse-hair lines, one pair 



